


Elusion

by CaptainChronical



Category: Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms
Genre: Drugs, Hospitals, M/M, Overdose, Post Johnlock - Freeform, Trauma, teen!lock
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-12
Updated: 2017-10-12
Packaged: 2019-01-16 14:48:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,074
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12344814
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainChronical/pseuds/CaptainChronical
Summary: John Watson used to be a soldier. Now he just works at the emergency room. One night a patients arrives, painfully reminding him of his past.





	Elusion

"Doctor Watson?", one of the nurses‘ head appeared in the doorway, "there’s been another emergency." John sighted. It was two in the morning, he had spent the last nine hours working at the emergency room. The hospital was short staffed which was the main reason they had given him a job at all. Yes, he had the qualification since he had served in the military, but all the youths fresh out of Oxford with rich parents tended to get accepted more easily. So he ended up working nights, or whenever someone was needed, at the pit. Stitching up lacerations and putting broken arms in casts for a living, he thought grimly as he hurried through the deserted hallway.  
A small body laid on one of the typical litters everything except a mop of dark hair covered by a blanket. Grasping for air, muscles twitching, the wide pupils wandering unfocused. John stopped for a moment until he reminded himself where he was and what he was supposed to do. It was the first time he saw someone after an overdose for years. He noticed a cut on the forehead of the young face, the fingers grabbing the edges of the blanket blood stained. Just as in battle, he switched to auto pilot. Giving orders without thinking, repeating what he was taught. Just as the various times before this day someone had been brought in here. 

Everything hurt once the boy had woken up. The sun drew shafts of light through the closed blinds revealing a hospital room laying in semi-darkness. He did not feel like doing anything. Not sleeping, not thinking, not talking, not getting up. So he remained without movement, just staring at the ceiling. Every single thought was too much. Every blink was exhausting. Time passed without him noticing. At some point the door opened, someone bent over him. He barley recognized, could not even tell if there were words floating through the room or not. At least he got tired soon after so he drifted off again. 

John could not get the events of the night out of his head. Luckily he was tired enough to fall asleep as soon as he got to his flat, otherwise he would not have found sleep. For a short moment he was back in that flat right outside London, with a body hurled in the corner just as the one the previous night. He decided to go to work a little sooner than necessary just to take a look at the boy. He just could not help it, he had to make sure it was different this time. He had to see.  
The small body looked even smaller in the huge bed than in the emergency room, the pale arms wrapped around the pillow suggested loneliness. "Quinn Harper" said the name tag and on any other day it would have been a name like any else. But now it was this rather young looking teen curled up in a hospital bed. It was someone who’s life John had saved the night before. A person carrying reminders of a past they did not share.  
See, he is alive, John told himself, stop worrying. But still. Quinn seemed so defenceless, so vulnerable. What does it take someone this young to get at this point? Just thinking about made John feel miserable. Not only caused by his own mistakes, but also seen from anyone’s perspective. No one, especially not at this young age, should feel like they need a way to get away from reality.   
"Sorry", said a small voice suddenly, "who are you?" John jumped. He was so lost in his thoughts – en las nubes, as he used to say – that he did not notice Quinn waking up. It took a second until John’s brain worked properly again: "I’m Doctor Watson. You probably won’t remember me, but you were rushed in during my shift last night." "Oh. I’m sorry, I guess." "Don’t be. You just remind me of someone…someone I knew a long time ago. Anyway, sorry for interrupting you", he headed out not hearing the "wait, please" the confused kid exclaimed.  
Everything seemed just too much right now. John forced himself through his shift hoping it would distract him. It did not work. Instead he was distracted from working. His mind was in that very day so many years ago. Trying to supress the helplessness and desperation coming up once again, but it barley worked. Panic flashing before his eyes again and again, but John refused resting long enough to give it room. He dreaded going back to his flat afterwards where no distraction waited, but it was unavoidable.  
The following day, he went back to Quinn’s room. He was not acquired to, his only responsibility at work was the emergency room. "Hey Watson." "Hello." "You seemed upset yesterday. Would you maybe tell me some more? I don’t really understand."  
"Okay, fine. I had a very close friend who also overdosed. But different to you, he died. I was right there. I couldn’t do anything but watch, I had to let him die. Afterwards I went to the military, trying to forget and to maybe save someone’s life in return. Seeing you that night, all those memories I kept locked up for so long where right there."  
There’s silence. And then Quinn spoke thoughtful: "I’m sorry you had to go through this." And: "What was your friend like?" "Oh, he was brilliant", John started eagerly, "Outside every ordinary. His mind was so bright. He would look at you for a split second and tell you who of your siblings you talk more to. Watching movies with him was terrible, ten minutes in and he ran out of deductions, eleven minutes in and he was bored. When he was eleven, he tried to define what a human is. Others thought he was weird so almost no one bothered to get to know him. And he wouldn’t make it easy if you tried… took me ages to get to see through his emotionless mask, but it was worth the effort. In return I got to experience that marvellous mind, as complicated and worth admired as space."  
"Wow, that is", Quinn started, but paused for a moment to find the right words, "the most unique and admirable friendship I ever heard of. I’m sure you were an amazing friend."  
Their lifes parted eventually, but neither forgot the encounter.


End file.
